Friday Night Smackdown!
Cincinnati, Ohio
September 7, 2007
thanks to: wwe.com
Summer fizzles, but SmackDown sizzles
By Louie Dee
September 7, 2007
CINCINNATI – Summer may be unofficially over after Labor Day, but the first
Friday Night SmackDown after the holiday weekend proved that tensions remain
hotter than ever as Unforgiven approaches. What started with a main-event pair
of grudge rematches in the Queen City this week ended with a potential harbinger
of what lies ahead at the pay-per-view extravaganza on Sept. 16.
In the first of the grudge rematches, Batista & Kane once again defeated World
Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali & Finlay, just as they did last month at
Saturday Night’s Main Event. Little did the champion and The Animal know,
however, that they would come face-to-face once more at the end of the second
rematch.
In that battle, Rey Mysterio furthered his quest for revenge on Chavo Guerrero,
defeating his bitter rival in a brutal “I Quit” Match. Rey took a page out of
the Guerrero playbook, forcing Chavo to quit by hanging him upside-down from the
turnbuckles and repeatedly bashing his knee with a steel chair – the same tactic
Chavo used last October, when he put Rey out of commission during their first “I
Quit” Match on SmackDown.
That’s when the fireworks truly began, as The Great Khali came out to confront
his Unforgiven challenger. Rey attacked, but the massive champion retaliated and
nearly squashed Rey’s head like a grape with the Khali Vise Grip. The Animal
came to the aid of his fallen friend, but the damage had been done; Rey was
beaten and badly bleeding from the mouth, a ghastly visual that even Batista’s
thunderous spear on Khali couldn’t erase from our fans’ minds. There was
something General Manager Theodore Long could do about it, however: He changed
Unforgiven’s World Heavyweight Championship Match from Khali against Mysterio to
a Triple Threat Match between Khali, Mysterio and The Animal. Read more about
this turn of events…
In another Unforgiven stunner, Matt Hardy earned a championship match for the
pay-per-view, but not exactly the one he wanted. While he challenged MVP to a
United States Title clash, Hardy found out that he and his new partner would
instead defend their WWE Tag Team Championship against former champs Deuce &
Domino. As “team captain,” MVP then graciously set Matt up in an impromptu match
against Deuce, a bout MVP helped his partner win with some timely outside
interference. Read more about MVP & Matt’s night…
When a druid appeared in the ring moments after a video played trumpeting
Undertaker’s return, Mark Henry thought he had his chance to begin punishing The
Phenom and his minions. Unfortunately, as soon as Henry got his hands on the
druid, the lights went out; when they returned, Undertaker’s minion was gone and
all the self-proclaimed Silverback had to hold on to was his black cloak. While
the World’s Strongest Man may have left Cincinnati disappointed, he hopes to
sing a different tune when he finally meets Undertaker in Music City, U.S.A. –
Memphis, Tenn. – at Unforgiven.
Speaking of disappointment, Friday night was another bad one for Jamie Noble.
With a match against Cruiserweight Champion Hornswoggle on tap, the No. 1
contender formulated a plan to use Lucky Charms as bait to capture the
Leprechaun underneath a heavy box before their bout. Sadly, his Wile E. Coyote-esque
scheme didn’t quite come to fruition; like many of the less-than-cunning Looney
Tunes canine’s plans to capture Road Runner, Noble’s plan ended with him on the
business end of a backfire, as the clever Cruiserweight Champion trapped his
challenger inside the box instead.
Making matters worse, neither Shannon Moore, who watched Noble’s wacky plan
unfold, nor Jesse & Festus – who finally made it to SmackDown, but were too
amazed by the “talking box” to realize what (or who) was inside – helped Noble
out. The match began without him, and while he finally freed himself, he wasn’t
able to get to the ring to beat referee Charles Robinson’s 10-count, giving the
champion a count-out victory. Once the No. 1 contender finally got in the ring,
some well-placed marbles took him down long enough for the pint-sized prankster
to scamper away.
In other action, Michelle McCool once again got the best of Victoria when Chuck
Palumbo defeated Victoria’s boy toy, Kenny Dykstra. McCool, who came to ringside
with Palumbo on his motorcycle, later thwarted Victoria’s attempt to ride away
on Chuck’s chopper. A big kick from JBL’s favorite Diva floored the
multiple-time former Women’s Champion, allowing Palumbo to take care of business
inside the squared circle and finish Dykstra with the Full Throttle.
Labor Day may mark the unofficial end of summer, but the season doesn’t truly
end until after Sept. 21. Be sure to save that date, as SmackDown will celebrate
the close of one season and the dawn of another with a bang – the marriage of
Theodore Long & Kristal Marshall on the season premiere of SmackDown in Atlanta.
As the bride and groom revealed this week, Atlanta-based R&B sensations Jagged
Edge will be on hand to sing “their song” at the ceremony, and perhaps do some
thuggin’ and buggin’ with Mr. and Mrs. Long. One thing is for sure: It’s going
to be steamy in Hotlanta on the final day of summer. Holla!
Matches